Awww I'm so sorry for your loss, momindeep. I feel your sadness and you're right, the kids who shun us don't have any idea how painful it is to lose a parent. Problems can always be resolved, there's always hope.

I agree with momindeep that I know I would give an arm and a leg for a 10 minute conversation with either of my parents. Mom died when she was 43 and dad died when he was 62. Just 10 minutes to talk to them-what I would not give for that!

I also miss my parents, who I lost in 197 and 2001. But our children live for the moment; they don't think for a second about the future - a future that might not include their parents.

Wen my girlfriend's husband lost his mother, he cried at her coffin. She told him he had no right to cry now when he would never spend time with her when she was alive. My friend tried to get her husband to call his parents once a week but he wouldn't.

I remember when I was young I didn't give much thought about death either.

I've lost my parents, too. My mom was 47 ( I was 16) and my dad when he was 66. I miss them every day and wish for those few more minutes. That's one of the reasons we Christians are so blessed. I don't fear death, because I long to be in my parents' arms again. My mom had a stroke on a Tuesday, but she recovered and when I went to see her in the hospital we argued as 16 year olds and moms will do. That was the last time I saw her alive and it haunted me for many years. Our EC have NO IDEA what kind of pain they have ahead of them, and maybe for the rest of their lives, if we die still estranged from them. I also think they're teaching their children how to treat them. Norske is right. They live for the moment. This is a very self-centered generation. They haven't earned the title "The Me Generation" for nothing.

I miss my Dad who passed away of cancer over 20 years ago. It is hard to say if with age our EC will realize more. Our ED left my very old sick mother when she estranged who she had professed to love. I have doubts that she ever really bonded with family or maybe just took everything for granted. Hard to understand how our EC could do what they have done. It is sad for us but I find it sad for them too.

My parents are still alive but are elderly (84 & 89). When my daughter left my dad was very ill (he had just come out of the hospital and was still being treated for sepsis) I couldn't understand how she could just up and leave when they may not live another year (or day for that matter). They just don't get it. I am sure my daughter would not have come home even if someone landed in the hospital. She was going to do what she wanted to do.... period.

Miss my folks most this time of year; such dear people. They are always in my heart. My mom's biggest worry before she died was the welfare of her great-grandkids, especially the ones who have disabilities. Am glad she is not here to see how my ED is behaving and treating her child with disabilities. When we go I know exactly what she will do -- cry to her siblings that she wishes she had spent more time with us, made up, etc... It will be poor me and all about her. She really does think she is queen of the universe...

OntheOuts That is how our ED is and always was. She always was having a pity party. I would try to point out how much God gave her but she liked the "poor me" role and the attention it brought. Eventually, others grew tired of it, thus the temporary relationships she holds. God isn't finished with her, yet. He isn't finished with any of us, yet.

I am very, very sorry for the losses you all have experienced with the passing of your parents. At the same time, I smile and wish I had been lucky enough to have what you all had. I am so happy for you that you had loving parents that obviously cared for you and raised you right. I can say that I was raised properly in the sense that I now have a comfortable life. But my father physically and mentally tortured me for many years with my mom's complicity. I still love them, but I don't want to see either of them ever again. I am sorry. That is just how I feel. I love to hear the stories from people like you folks, because it reminds me of normalcy and how things are supposed to be. Although I didn't have that, I should have had it and I have tried to give that to my wife and children. love and blessings to all.

So sorry you didn't have it epicjourney. My birth family experience was not perfect but they were good parents who tried hard, and didn't come form good families themselves. I am grateful for them and wish that somehow all could realize how important caring and good memories are to children. Our EC will reap the bitter harvest of this for themselves.

Very sorry for the losses of parents many have had. Also, very sorry for the losses some have had who had a difficult time with their parents. I lost my Dad over 20 years ago but still have my 93 year old mother who lives with us. She is a wise Christian woman who has God's favor.

We tried our best with our ED but to hear her tell the story one would not think so. Still, we forgive her and have asked her forgiveness of things that we have done that could have been done better. We were not perfect and neither was she. We were also not the evil people that she has told others who do not know us that we are. We do not admit to what we have not done. I pray that one day our ED's heart would be softened. It may take some hard times. It did for the prodigal son.